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Don't trade your I15's in for I20's if you're a digger


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Saw this discussed in another forum that shall remain nameless but a good topic none the less. I didn't notice that the Ping I20's irons have much higher bounces than the Anser irons or even the I15's. I was thinking about getting the I20's but found a spanking deal on a previously hit set of I15's (didn't even consider the Anser set due to their higher price). Now I'm glad I did. Being a sweeper, I definitely will benefit from the lower bounce of the I15's - especially in the short irons.

 

For comparison purposes:

 

i20â„¢ Iron Specifications

 

Bounce

 

3 4°

4 5°

5 6°

6 7°

7 8°

8 9°

9 10°

PW 12°

UW 13°

SW 14°

LW 13°

 

 

i15® Iron Specifications

 

Bounce

 

3 -2.7°

4 -1.8°

5 0.8°

6 2.8°

7 5.0°

8 6.0°

9 8.0°

PW 9.0°

UW 10.0°

 

That's not to say you couldn't take advantage of Ping's excellent WRX option and get bounce grinds on the I20's. But I'm not sure many consumers would know to do that unless they paid close attention to the specification differences.

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Ping I15 Irons 5-UW AWT

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Interesting comparison. I would caution anyone from making any decisions based solely on spec sheets. I hit the i20's on grass at the PGA Show, and I thought the turf interaction was excellent. I don't consider myself a digger or a picker, somewhere in between.

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Good point but I'd be interested to hear if true sweepers demo'd them. I hardly take any divot at all other than a thin layer of turf in front of the ball (if that) and have struggled with higher bounce sets in the past. And the I20's have higher bounces than either the G or K-Series irons this year. Pretty interesting.

Callaway FT-9 Driver 10.5* Grafalloy Prolaunch Axis Blue

Callaway FT-9 Driver 9.0* Grafalloy Prolaunch Platinum

Cobra Baffler Rail F Fairway 15.5* Fujikura Motore

Wilson FYbrid 19* UST Proforce AXIV Core

Cobra Baffler Rail H Hybrid 22* Fujikura Motore

Ping I15 Irons 5-UW AWT

Ping Tour-W 56*,60* DG Spinner

Ping Redwood ZB Putter, WRX Starshot, 35"

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Good point but I'd be interested to hear if true sweepers demo'd them. I hardly take any divot at all other than a thin layer of turf in front of the ball (if that) and have struggled with higher bounce sets in the past. And the I20's have higher bounces than either the G or K-Series irons this year. Pretty interesting.

 

My take (adopted from one of my co-workers): bounce will not hurt you unless you are a flipper. My swing is flat, but I don't flip, so bounce is not a problem.

Follow me on Twitter: @MattSaternus

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Being a sweeper, I definitely will benefit from the lower bounce of the I15's - especially in the short irons.

 

+1, I like it when I hear someone talk about turf interaction based on their swing style.

 

turf interaction is really based on four main characteristics on irons and wedges

Golf Digest Has a pretty good image and explanation here --> http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/2008-11/newlooks_soles

1) leading edge

2) sole width

3) camber

4) bounce

 

Reading a divot tells you everything you need to know about your lie angle and your sole of your club.

1) you want the cut into the ground to be even all the way through the divot, if it is deeper on one side or the other by a lot then you need a lie angle adjustment. Heel heavy means you need it flatter, toe heavy means you need it more upright.

 

2) If the divot starts shallow then is the deepest towards the end of the divot or the club sort of pops out of the divot without smoothly exiting the turf it is digging to much. So you need a divot that has the deepest point is about midway in the hole. The deep divot at the end of the hole can happen to diggers with too little of bounce and/ or narrow sole widths.

 

3) If you divot is too shallow or deep to start then comes out of the turf really fast the club isn't digging enough for you and bouncing out to quickly. This can happen to sweepers that have a wide sole with and. or clubs with a lot of bounce.

 

What you might look for in wedge design should also go into iron design to optimize you playability. Vokey has a lot of information on wedges and how to select what is best for you here --> www.titleist.com/vokey_wedge_guide/

 

 

Personally, I have a set of blades that classically have a sharp leading edge, very little bounce and narrow sole width. This translates into easy turf interaction for skilled shot makers and sweepers. Diggers probably not be a good placement in a blade unless it is a blade that provides them a with more bounce and not as sharp of a leading edge.

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Callaway Epic Speed 18.0* @ 42.75" w/ Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-8 Stiff

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Sub-70 639 Combo (5-P) w/ Nippon Modus 3 125 Stiff, Standard Length, Weak Lofts (27-47, 4* gaps)

Callaway MD5 Raw 51-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 55-13 X-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

Callaway MD5 Raw 59-11 S-Grind w/ Nippon Modus 125 Wedge

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Good point but I'd be interested to hear if true sweepers demo'd them. I hardly take any divot at all other than a thin layer of turf in front of the ball (if that) and have struggled with higher bounce sets in the past. And the I20's have higher bounces than either the G or K-Series irons this year. Pretty interesting.

 

A2G: I'm what my instructor calls a "true sweeper" so I had the same worries as you when it came to the i20's. Getting them on grass the thought from both him, myself and the Ping fitter was "not bad". The resulting answer was to move to the S56's or get the Tour grind on the i20's. I've gone with the later and it's suprising what hacking 3 degrees of bounce off has done to them.

 

Maybe you're happy with the i15's as is but if the cost isn't too bad, I'd order a single iron, either a 6 or 7 and get them to plunk the Tour grind on it for you (anywhwere from 1 to 4 degrees they'll remove) with your shaft and grip of choice. I imagine your opinion on how they work in the turf will change rapidly. Now, that's not to say I think they'll be golden on hard pan. I won't get to try that out until late summer and I cannot imagine them being as good as the S56's or my Pro Combo's in that situation, but I don't imagine they will be all that bad either. We'll see. For now, anything short of hard pan gets a thumbs up from me.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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I really need to make an effort to stop reading threads about the i20s. Ping has finally started to get it an make nicer looking clubs.

 

I'm starting to wonder if I need a set considering all their customization options. I know the answer to that question, I don't need them, but still...

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A2G: I'm what my instructor calls a "true sweeper" so I had the same worries as you when it came to the i20's. Getting them on grass the thought from both him, myself and the Ping fitter was "not bad". The resulting answer was to move to the S56's or get the Tour grind on the i20's. I've gone with the later and it's suprising what hacking 3 degrees of bounce off has done to them.

 

Maybe you're happy with the i15's as is but if the cost isn't too bad, I'd order a single iron, either a 6 or 7 and get them to plunk the Tour grind on it for you (anywhwere from 1 to 4 degrees they'll remove) with your shaft and grip of choice. I imagine your opinion on how they work in the turf will change rapidly. Now, that's not to say I think they'll be golden on hard pan. I won't get to try that out until late summer and I cannot imagine them being as good as the S56's or my Pro Combo's in that situation, but I don't imagine they will be all that bad either. We'll see. For now, anything short of hard pan gets a thumbs up from me.

 

Tuna, as far as I'm concerned, the I15's are the I20's with a tour grind. Same progressive head shape. Same clean look at address. I think the I20's cavities are cleaner and pretty cool looking, but that's cosmetic and I'm not sure they are worth the upcharge versus what I paid (more on that in a minute).

 

Either way, I'm pretty happy with the I15's. I shot my lowest round of last season in the first month of this season - after just my second outing with the new sticks. If something is working for me then I tend to not want to mess with it.

 

Besides, I got a lightly used set of I15's for $275 + Shipping. Hard to pass that up.

Callaway FT-9 Driver 10.5* Grafalloy Prolaunch Axis Blue

Callaway FT-9 Driver 9.0* Grafalloy Prolaunch Platinum

Cobra Baffler Rail F Fairway 15.5* Fujikura Motore

Wilson FYbrid 19* UST Proforce AXIV Core

Cobra Baffler Rail H Hybrid 22* Fujikura Motore

Ping I15 Irons 5-UW AWT

Ping Tour-W 56*,60* DG Spinner

Ping Redwood ZB Putter, WRX Starshot, 35"

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I really need to make an effort to stop reading threads about the i20s. Ping has finally started to get it an make nicer looking clubs.

 

I'm starting to wonder if I need a set considering all their customization options. I know the answer to that question, I don't need them, but still...

 

I can't recommend Ping's WRX division highly enough. When I lived in Phoenix, I'd always go over there to have stuff tweaked. They knew me by name - probably prefaced by "That PITA". When I moved, they probably threw a party in my honor. ;)

 

Shipping costs have kept me from taking advantage of their services more since I've relocated to the Midwest, but I'll be sending my 60 degree Tour-W wedge in for a TS grind shortly.

Callaway FT-9 Driver 10.5* Grafalloy Prolaunch Axis Blue

Callaway FT-9 Driver 9.0* Grafalloy Prolaunch Platinum

Cobra Baffler Rail F Fairway 15.5* Fujikura Motore

Wilson FYbrid 19* UST Proforce AXIV Core

Cobra Baffler Rail H Hybrid 22* Fujikura Motore

Ping I15 Irons 5-UW AWT

Ping Tour-W 56*,60* DG Spinner

Ping Redwood ZB Putter, WRX Starshot, 35"

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Tuna, as far as I'm concerned, the I15's are the I20's with a tour grind. Same progressive head shape. Same clean look at address. I think the I20's cavities are cleaner and pretty cool looking, but that's cosmetic and I'm not sure they are worth the upcharge versus what I paid (more on that in a minute).

 

Either way, I'm pretty happy with the I15's. I shot my lowest round of last season in the first month of this season - after just my second outing with the new sticks. If something is working for me then I tend to not want to mess with it.

 

Besides, I got a lightly used set of I15's for $275 + Shipping. Hard to pass that up.

 

I'm not so sure about that. Aside from the feel of the heads, which is a fair bit different IMO, the ball flight and spin levels seem to vary between the two. The i20's are also much, much more forgiving off the toe then the i15's ever were. That being said you got a sweet deal on the i15's and if they work then fantastic. I don't think it's quite as cut and dry though after trying them both out extensively (and the S56's).

 

I do love Ping WRX though. When the rep and I called in he started it off with "this might be a doozy of a order" and at the end the sales rep came back with "is that it? Hmmmm. Easiest order of the day actually". Cracked me up considering the amount of adjustments that occured.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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Ok, let me get this correct.

 

If I'm a digger, get the i20's?

 

Had a couple of beers, sorry!

 

Yes.

Good sized sole and a COG that actually sits above the mid point of the ball means these are better for diggers.

 

Forget what I've said above. Subsequent rounds have rapidly changed my opinion on how these work for sweepers.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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